8:15 pm Last Update for the Night

Ok- one last update before we try to get some rest. Alyssa remains in stable condition. After an "Alyssatude" attempt at getting up in bed, she was given extra doses of Morphine and Ativan. She is now resting peacefully. She remains on 2L Oxygen. She looks beautiful and we are optimistic for a speedy recovery. Thank you for all your prayers and comments as they truly made this whole experience easier. Alyssa says thank you too :) I will post again tomorrow, possibly with pictures.

1:30 pm

Well we just got to see her. The surgery went well. She was on nitric oxide during the surgery but she did great. She is currently extubated in 2L oxygen. When she woke up in the PICU the nurses said she was pointing at her breathing tube and they knew they better get it out before she did it herself!!! They then gave her some morphine so she is pretty sleepy but she did open her eyes and try to cry a little. We just left cause her xray shows a small pneumothorax (air in her chest) so they have to put in another chest tube. This is pretty routine although still scary. Hopefully she will continue to breathe well. She really looks awesome. I expected her to look a lot worse. Tonight the goal is to keep her calm and comfortable. I will continue with the updates. Hopefully sleep for us is in the near future. ok- thanks for the continued prayers.

12:45pm

Just got our visitor passes that say she is in the PICU bed 13. No other update but the secretary said she will be coming for us shortly to see her.

11:20 am

Just got another update. Alyssa is off bypass and the repair is complete!!!!!
Wow- tears finally coming. I have wondered how I haven't lost it yet. I have just had a sense of confidence that I didn't expect. Anyway, she is not closed up yet. They are doing another echo right now and then I expect they will close her. Nurse practitioner expects she should be in PICU and able to have visitors about 1:00pm. Not sure whether they will be able to get her extubated or not. They have nitric oxide set up in OR in case her pulmonary hypertension flares up but so far so good, so say prayers that they can quickly get her off the vent. ok- stay in touch.

10:15 am

Alyssa is now on bypass and everything is going fine. Dr. Hennein is beginning the repair. Should be updated in another hour.

9:10 am

Martha just came out to tell us everything is going fine and Dr. Hennein is about to start the surgery in five minutes.

9:00 am

Alyssa went back about 7:45 am and we are waiting for our first update. They gave her some intranasal versed before they took her back so she wasnt crying or anything when the nurse took her. The first hour is intubating, puttting lines in, etc.. and we are waiting for them to come out and tell us all is well so far.